India pin hopes on doubles at Australian Open
January 15th, 2012 - 2:09 pm ICT by IANS
Melbourne, Jan 15 (IANS) India’s hopes at the Australian Open beginning Monday rest on the the brand new doubles pair, Mahesh Bhupathi and Rohan Bopanna, and Leander Paes, who will be teaming up with Czech Republic’s Radek Stepanek.
Paes, having won the doubles title at the Chennai Open with Serb Janko Tipsarevic, will go into the Open with high confidence.
Bhupathi will be looking to win his maiden men’s doubles title with his new partner, having missed out thrice as losing finalist — with Paes in 1999 and 2011 and with Mark Knowles of Bahamasin 2009.
“It is my 18th season so it is not something new. Beginning of every season is always exciting because in two weeks you are in a Grand Slam. So I am heading to Melbourne and I hope to kick it off well,” Bhupathi said.
Bhupathi, who won the Australian Open mixed doubles title with Martina Hingis in 2006 and in 2008 with Sania said he and Bopanna were working extremely hard to get the chemistry going.
“We are just practicing as much as we can and playing as much as one can with their partner,” he added.
The Indian tennis veteran teamed up with young Bopanna for the first time in Chennai after splitting with Paes yet another time last year. The pair lost in the semi-finals to Irsrael’s Andy Ram and Jonathan Erlich.
Bhupathi and Sania Mirza will pair-up to launch their title bid in the mixed doubles. Bhupathi is hopeful that Sania will be fully fit for the tournament.
“She has come back from a surgery again, and it is always hard. She is fine. I don’t know how she is feeling, but I know she is a little injured. So we have to wait and see how it pans out.”
Sania Mirza, who has dropped out of the top 100 in the WTA rankings will be the lone Indian representative in the single’s competition with World No. 86 Somdev Devvarman pulling out of the tournament with a shoulder injury.
Sania ranked 105, returns to the place where she first made a name for herself, reaching the third round of the 2005 edition being beaten by eventual winner Serena Williams after a valiant fight.
The 25-year-old will have her work cut out as she faces Bulgarian Tsvetana Pironkova, ranked 48, in the first round. The two have not played on the circuit so far.
- Bhupathi slams AITA over its pairing policies - Jan 19, 2012
- Bhupathi-Bopanna knocked out of Australian Open (Lead) - Jan 22, 2012
- AITA confident of getting Sania to play in Olympics - May 30, 2012
- Bhupathi-Bopanna shocked in French Open first round - May 31, 2012
- Wimbledon: Bhupathi in mixed doubles semifinal; Sania, Paes lose - Jul 02, 2011
- Bopanna drops out of top-10 doubles ranking - Nov 28, 2011
- Australian Open: Paes-Stepanek, Sania-Bhupathi in semis (Roundup) - Jan 25, 2012
- Australian Open: Bhupathi-Bopanna, Sania-Vesnina enter doubles pre-quarters - Jan 21, 2012
- Sania reaches career best doubles ranking - Jun 06, 2011
- French Open: Bhupathi-Bopanna seeded 6th, Paes-Peya 7th - May 28, 2012
- Sania-Bhupathi crash out of Australian Open - Jan 27, 2012
- Good day for Indians in Australian Open - Jan 20, 2012
- Sania gains four places in tennis singles rankings - May 14, 2012
- US Open: Somdev hopes to play a competitive match against Murray (Preview) - Aug 28, 2011
- Somdev slips 19 places to 89 - Sep 26, 2011
Tags: andy ram, australian open, australian open mixed doubles, grand slam, indian representative, indian tennis, janko tipsarevic, jonathan erlich, leander paes, mahesh bhupathi, mark knowles, martina hingis, new partner, radek stepanek, rohan bopanna, sania mirza, shoulder injury, somdev devvarman, time in chennai, wta rankings